The Eduardo Rodriguez era is over in Boston. The lefty is signing a five-year, $77 million deal with the Tigers, as first reported by Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
Rodriguez, who spent the first six years of his big-league career in Boston, hit free agency after the season and rejected a one-year, $18.4 million qualifying offer from the club last week. His contract with the Tigers includes an opt-out after 2023, some sort of no-trade clause and up to $3 million in performance bonuses, according to reports.
Originally acquired in a 2014 deadline deal that sent lefty reliever Andrew Miller to the Orioles, Rodriguez debuted a year later and became a full-time member of the Sox’ rotation for more than a half-decade. In 159 appearances (153 starts), the lefty went 64-39 with a 4.16 ERA. He had a career year in 2019 (19-6, 3.81 ERA in 203 ⅓ innings) before a heart condition (myocarditis) caused by a bout with COVID-19 led to him missing the shortened 2020 season. In 2021, Rodriguez posted an uneven 4.74 ERA in 32 appearances (31 starts) but pitched well down the stretch and had advanced numbers that suggested he was the victim of some bad luck.
The Red Sox had interest in working out a long-term agreement with Rodriguez and made him several multi-year offers, including one at midseason (as the Boston Globe first reported) and in recent weeks. According to a source, Boston’s midseason offer was so far off from Rodriguez’s wishes that talks basically ended immediately. It’s unclear if the sides ever got closer in the last few weeks.
Rodriguez reportedly drew interest from other clubs, including the Blue Jays and Angels. He is the first major free agent to come off the board this off-season and the first Red Sox free agent to sign a new deal. Eight Red Sox players -- José Iglesias, Adam Ottavino, Martín Pérez, Garrett Richards, Hansel Robles, Daniel Santana, Kyle Schwarber and Travis Shaw -- remain free agents.
With Rodriguez gone, it’s likely the Red Sox will begin exploring external rotation additions on a more serious level. Though Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale and Nick Pivetta are all returning in 2022 and Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck are both candidates to start, it’s likely that the Sox will add a starter or two via free agency or trade before spring training starts in February. Rodriguez was widely considered to be one of the top handful of starters available this winter; Kevin Gausman, Robbie Ray, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodon and Jon Gray remain available.
Because they issued Rodriguez a qualifying offer, the Red Sox will receive a compensatory draft pick now that the lefty is headed elsewhere. That pick is expected to be between No. 70 and 80 in the 2022 draft.
Related links:
Eduardo Rodriguez rejects Boston Red Sox’s $18.4M qualifying offer, his market ‘heating up’ (report)
Boston Red Sox’s Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts win 2021 Silver Slugger awards
Ad Choices